Street-sign holder.



S. J. LORD.

STREET SIGN HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1013 1,1 17,509, Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

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XML 3-0- 141 UTUETE TATES1HMFENT OFTTCE-.

SAMUEL J. LORD, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

STREET-SIGN HOLDER.

To all whom it may concern 1 Be it known that I, SAMUELJ. LORD, acitizen of the United States, residing at Manchester, in the county ofHillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Street-Sign Holders, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention has reference to sign holders, and moreparticularly to that type or classof sign which IS in the form of a flatplate or board of wood, metal or other suitable material and is commonlyused for street-indicating and analogous purposes.

The invention comprehends certain hereinafterdescribed structuralimprovements which render the holder capable of being readily applied,with equal facility, to lamp and other posts 01' supports, and to housecorners, trees and the like, and of accommodating itself to any surfaceirregularities of or in such supports, and it proposes, further, animproved holder of the general character indicated which may bemanufactured at a minimum cost, is extremely durable, and is designed toeffectively andromovably support the sign in level posltlon, withoutsagging. I

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, whereof;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the 1mproved holder, with its sign,attached to a post; Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the holder;Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof; Figs. 1 and 5 are transverse andlongitudinal sections, taken respectively, upon lines l4 and 5-5 of Fig.2; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the sign, showing its rounded rearcorners.

Referring more particularly to said drawing, 7 indicates generally theimproved holder, 8 the sign carried thereby, and 9 the support to whichthe said holder is attached. The element last mentioned may be of anydesired character, and is here shown as in the form of, or asconstituted by, a post of conventional type. In this instance, however,the holder is fastened to metal bands 10 which encircle the post and aresecured thereto, instead of directly to the support, as is the casewhere trees, wooden poles and the like are used for that purpose. Thesign itself may likewise be of any desired form, but is preferablyconstituted by an elongated Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1'7, 1914:.

Application filed November 18, 1913. Serial No. 801,631.

rectangular board or plate, made of wood,'

necting portion or bridge 13. The width of this bridge is appreciablyless than that of the end or base portions, but, on the other hand, itextends or projects forward a very considerable distance from what maybe regarded as the front face of the holder. The said bridge is disposedlongitudinally of the holder, and has its end portions extending partlyacross the adjacent base portions 11 and 12, as best shown in Fig. 2, atwhich points it is strengthened by webs 14, 15 and 16, the twotransverse webs 14 and 15 at each end of the holder being located closeto the inner edge of the corresponding base 11 or 12 and extending fromthe side edges thereof to the side walls of the bridge, while thevertical or longitudinal web 16 at each end extends from the outer edgeof the corresponding base to the adjacent end wall of the bridge. All ofthe above-mentioned component parts of the holder are ofintegralconstruction, thereby reducingthe cost of manufacture to aminimum, since the entire holder has, therefore, the form of a one-pieceor unitary casting which maybe made instock from a single mold. a

To permit the attachment of the sign to the holder the latter has formedin it, during casting, a longitudinal slot 17 which opens through theopposite faces of the bridge portion 13, and, like said bridge, isextended at its ends across or into the base portions 11 and 12. Thisslot is designed to receive the rear or inner end of the sign, so thatit, and the bridge through whichit is formed, may be said, therefore, toconstitute a socket, the portions 11 and 12 being the bases of suchsocket, and it may here be stated that the inner or rear face of thebridge, which forms the back of the socket, is cut away or thinned, asshown in Fig. 3, to increase the space between said face and the surfaceof the post or other support. The sign end is fixed in the said socketby means of screws or nails 18, which pass through perforations 19 inthe side walls of the socket, and to further insure the retention ofsaid sign end in place, especially before the fastening devices aredriventhrough their holes in the socket, the inner walls of the latterare inclined, so as to exert a wedging or-binding action upon the sign.Thus, as shown in Fig. 4, the inner surfaces 20 of the two side wallshave a slight inward convergence, and, similarly, the inner surfaces 21of the two end walls, as depicted in Fig. 5. Moreover, to facilitatecentering, the rear corners 22 of the sign are rounded, as indicated inFig. 6.

The holder itself is fastened to its support in like manner, by meansofnails or screws 23, which are driven into said support throughperforations 24 formed in the two base portions 11 and 12. Theseportions are preferably provided upon their inner faces, adjacent theside edges thereof, with rearwardly-projecting feet 25 which arecoextensive in length with said edges and are formed, in turn, withsharp-pointed lugs or teeth 26, such teeth serving as an additionalretaining means for the holder since they are forcibly driven against orinto the post or other support during the attachment of the holderthereto.

In use, the rear end of the sign proper is first driven into the socketin the holder, as will be understood, and the said holder is thenapplied to its'support and held thereagainst in any desired manner priorto being fastened thereto. During the time that the holder is being heldagainst the support, the sign is adjusted in the aforesaid socket, thedepth of the socket and the rounded rear corners of the sign permittingthe sign end to accommodate itself to any unevenness or surfaceirregularity of or in the support and also permitting'the sign itself tobe positioned at the proper angle to said support, while the wedgeaction exerted by the inclined inner walls of the socket prevents thesign from falling out of the socket such time. When the adjustment ofthe s1gn has been completed, it is fastened 'in'the socket, and theholder then secured to the support, or this operation may be reversedand the attachment of the holder to the supportefl'ected prior to thenailing of the sign in its socket. In either instance, it will beapparent that both sides or faces of'the sign'are equally available forstreet names or othermatter of a like character which can be readilyread therefrom.

The general advantages of the invention 1 prising spaced base portionsand anelongated bridge connecting the same, said bridge being formedwith a transverse socket for the reception of one end of the sign, theinner walls of which socket converge rearwardly to exert a frictionalclamping action on said sign end.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' SAMUEL J. LORD.

lVitnesses IIARRIE'H. CLEMENT, FELIX A. LEPAGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. C.

